Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1887-02-11
ISLAND POND, VERMONT, FEBRUARY H. 1887


nothing, it goes to the dying bed and fills the
man with anticipations How much better
it would be to have him die without any more
hope than swine anil rats md snakes. That
is all. Nothing more left him. He will never
know anything again Shovel him under
The soul is only superior part of the body
aud when the body disintesrates the soul dis,
integrates. Annihilation, vacancy, everlast-
ing blank, obliteraton. Why not present
all that beautiful doctrine to the dying, in
stead Of coming with this hoax, this swindle
of the Christian religion, aud filing the dy-
ing man with anticipatons Of another life
until some in the last hour have clapped
their hands, and some have shouted.
and some have sung, and some
have been 50 overwrought with Joy. they
could only look ecstatic. Palace gates open
ing, they thought; diamond corouets flash
ing, hands beckoning, orchestfas sounding.
Little children dying, actually believing they
saw their departed parents, SO that, although
the little children had been SO weak and fee
BILE and sick for weeks they could not turn
on the dying pillow, at thss last, in par.
oxsym of rapture uncomfortable. thew sDi ana
TO their feet, and shouted: "Mother, catch
me, am Coming
And to show the immensity of this delu-
sion, this awful swindle of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, open hospital and bring into
that hospital the death beds of great many
Christian people, and take you by the hand
this morning, and [ walk up and down the
wards Of that hospital, and l ask few
questions; dying Stephen, what have you
to say" Lord Jesus, receive my spirit {"
dying John Wesley, what have you to
say" "The best of all is, God is with us !"
dying Edward Payson, what have you to
say" II float in a sea of glory" dying
John Bradford, what have you to say"
hA 81
horseback, or in fiery chariot it is this. !"
Dying Neander, what have you to sayfn II
am going to sleep now-good night" 'Dy-
ing Mrs. Florence Foster, what have you to
sayN "A pilgrim in the valley, but the
mountain-tops are all agleam from peak to
peak" dying Alexander Mather, what
bave you to saym "The Lord who has taken
now; glory be to God and to the Lambl
Amen, amen, amen, amenp Dying John
Powson, after preaching the Gospel SO many
years. what have you to says" My death.bed
is bed OF roses" Dying Doctor Thomas
Scott, what have you to sayin "This is
Heaven begun" dying soldier in the last
war, what Lave you to sayF "Boys, 1 am
going to the front" dying telegraph ope-
rator on the battlefield of Virginia, what
have YOU to sayl' "The wires are all laid,
and the poles are up from Stony Point to
headquarters dying Paul, what have you
to sayN II am now ready to be offered, and
the time of my departure is at haud; have
fought the good fight have finished my
course, l have kept the faith. o Death,
where is thy stingl o Grave, where
is thy victorY' Thanks be unto God who
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ" q, my Lord my God, what a de.
fusion, what a glorious delusion Submerge
me with it, fill my eyes and ears with it, put
it under my dying head for pillow-this de-
lusion-Spread it over me for a canopy, put
it underneath me for an outspread wing, roll
1t over me i'll ocean surges ten thousand
fathoms deep! o, if inhdelity and if atheism,
and If annihilation are a reality, and the
Christian religion is q delusion, give me the
delusionl
The strong conclusion of every man and
woman in the house is that Christianity pro-
ducng such grand results cannot be delu-
sion. A lie, q cheat, a swindle, an hallucina-
tion cannot launch such glory of the centu-
ries. Your logic and your common sense con-
vince you that bad cause cannot produce an
illustrious result; out Of the womb of such q
monster no such angel can be born. There
are many in this house this morning, in the
galleries and on the main floor who began
with thinking that the Christian religion was
q stupid farce, who have come to the conclu-
sion that it is a reality. Why are you
here to day! Why did you sing this song
Why did you bow your head in the opening
prayer9 Why did you bring your family
with you? Why, when l tell you of the end
ing of all trials in the bosom of God, do there
stand tears in your eyes-not tears of grief,
but tears of JOY, such as stand in the eyes of
honlesick children far away at school when
some one talks to them about going home!
Why is it that you can be so calmly sub
missive to the death of your loved one, about
whose departure you once were so angry
liz
thing the matter with you. All your
friends have found out there is great
change And if some of you would give
your experience, you would give it in schol-
arly style. and others giving your expert
ence would give it in broken style, but the
one experience would be just as good as the
other Some of you have read everything.
You are scientific and you are scholarly and
yet if | should ask you: "What is the most
sensible thing you ever did," you would say
''The most sensible thing I ever did was to
give my heart to God"
But there may be others here who have not
had early advantages, and if they were
asked to give their experience they might
rise and give such testimony as the man gave
in prayer meeting, when be said; 'HOn my
way here tonight, l met man who asked
me where l was going. / said Il am going
to prayer-meeting. He slid: There are a
good many religions and think the most OF
them are delusions; as to the Christian
religion, that is only notion, that
is a mere notion, the Christian
religion. said to him: Stranger you see
that tavern over thereP Yes, he said, i see
it DO you see me" 'Yes, of course I see
you.' Now, the time was, as everybody
in this town knows that if had a quarter
of dollar in my pocket l could not pass that
tavern without going in and getting drink
all the people of Jefferson could not keep me
out of that place; but God has changed my
heart, and the Lord Jesus Christ ha!
destroyed my thirst for strong drink, ant
there is my whole weeks wages, and l have
no temptation to go in there; and, stranger,
if this is notion | want to tell you it is 9
mighty powerful notion; it is notion that
has put clothes on my children's back, and II
is a notion that has filed my mouth with
thanksgiving to God. And, stranger, you
had better go along with me, you might gel
religion, too: lots Of people are getting re-
ligion now.'"
Well, we will soon understand it all. You
life and mine will soon be over. We will
soon come to the last bar of the music, II
the last act of the tragedy, to the last pag
of the book-yea, to the last line and to tn
last word, and to you and to me it will eithe
| be midnoon or midnight.
THE GUYANDOTTE EXPLOSION,